Hi,
I have just moved into a new house with a rather small electric water heater (30G). It is set at 120 degrees which seems to be the recommended temperature. It does not currently have an insulating blanket around it (though I am planning to buy one for it).

Using the 2nd floor shower (the heater is one floor down) the water pressure seems very high, though the showerhead is rated at MAX 2.5GPM which seems to be the standard. This whole combination results in just about enough water to take a quick shower.

What's going on?
I can see a number of potential problems:
a. the water heater is just too small
b. the temperature is too low
c. too much water pressure
d. heater loses too much heat cos of lack of insulation
e. ??

Any thought on what to do or look for?
I would rather not buy another water heater if I can avoid it (buying this house was enough expense for this month ) and was going to look for other possible solutions.

ANY help or suggestion would be welcome.

-t

 

toscano, Welcome to the DIY Forums.
The temp is set correctly. Water pressure is not the problem. Lack of insulation is not the problem. Thats takes care of what it's NOT.
Not sure what you consider a quick shower. A 5 minute shower would use 12 gallons of water. realizing that part of the water used is cold, you are still replacing every bit of hot water, as it is used, with cold water. So, you have used almost half of the tanks capacity plus introduced cold water into the already heated water. You didn't say how old the unit is. If it is 10 years or older, it probably is getting ready to bite the dust. If it hasn't been drained and flushed, there are probably deposits sitting on the bottom of the tank. A gas heater has to heat the deposits before it can get to heating the water. Wastes time and money. Hope this helps some. Bigger unit is probably your best solution. Good luck.

 

majakdragon,
thanks for the help. I am not sure right now how old it is, but i can find out.
This is an electric heater, so should i flush/drain it to see if that helps??

Thanks
-t

 

Flushing and draining is still a good idea to help protect the tank. Doubt it will do anything for the problem you are having. You could try turning up the heat and see if it helps your situation.

 

I was thinking the same. I was going to raise it 140 to see whether that helps. Otherwise I am at a loss, since even the small 30G heater should at least accomodate a shower...
t

 

If you are comfortable with it and have an ohm meter, turn off the power to the water heater, remove the two cover plates on its side, remove one of the screws on each of the heating elements and see if you get a reading on both. If one has infinity, then you have a bad element. My bet is on this, as one element can't keep the tank heated properly, and when you begin to drain it, you put it on double duty. The elements are easy to change out, but you will have to drain the tank to do it.